Ruth Herbert Lewis (29 November 1871 – 26 August 1946, née Caine) was an English
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
activist of
Manx descent and collector of Welsh folk songs. She published collections of
Welsh folk songs
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
, and was a key member of the
Welsh Folk-Song Society in the first half of the 20th century.
Early life and education
Ruth Caine was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, the daughter of
William Sproston Caine and
Alice Brown Caine. Her father was a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
. She attended
Newnham College
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...
, Cambridge, but as Cambridge did not award degrees to women at the time, she was given a master's degree by the
University of Dublin.
[Evan David Jones]
"Lady Ruth Herbert Lewis"
in ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (National Library of Wales 2009).
Folk music
After she married a Welsh politician, she moved to Wales, learned to speak Welsh, and committed herself to learning
Welsh culture. In 1906, she was one of the charter members of the Welsh Folk-Song Society (Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin), and in 1930 she was elected to a term as president of the society. She and other Society members collected
wax cylinder
Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...
recordings of Welsh-language traditional songs, and published a journal of their findings.
[E. Wyn James]
"An 'English' Lady Among Welsh Folk: Ruth Herbert Lewis and the Welsh Folk-Song Society"
in Ian Russell and David Atkinson, eds., ''Folk Song: Tradition, Revival, and Re-Creation'' (University of Aberdeen 2004): 266-283.
Books authored by Ruth Herbert Lewis include ''Folk-Songs Collected in Flintshire and the Vale of Clwyd'' (1914) and ''Second Collection of Welsh Folk-Songs Collected by Lady Herbert Lewis'' (1934).
Social reform
Lady Ruth Lewis was active in the North Wales Women's Temperance Union. She also ran an all-night canteen for soldiers in
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Lady Ruth Lewis received an
OBE for her work during the war.
Personal life and legacy
Ruth Caine married
John Herbert Lewis in 1897. They lived in
Caerwys
Caerwys is a town in Flintshire, Wales. It is just under two miles from the A55 road, A55 North Wales Expressway and one mile from the A541 road, A541 Mold, Flintshire, Mold-Denbigh road. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census, the popula ...
and in London, and had two children together, Kitty and Mostyn. Ruth was widowed in 1933, and died in 1946, age 75.
Her wax cylinder recordings survive in the archives at the St. Fagan's National History Museum in Cardiff,
National Museum Wales
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
, and at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. Other materials relating to Lady Herbert Lewis are at
Bangor University, the National Library of Wales and Flintshire Record Office.
Both of her children, Kitty Lewis (Mrs. Idwal Jones) and Dr. Herbert Mostyn Lewis, would carry on her work and serve terms as president of the Welsh Folk-Song Society.
The
National Eisteddfod has an annual "Lady Herbert Lewis Memorial Competition" for adult solo folk singers.
Lady Herbert Lewis Memorial Competition
for those aged 21 and over, National Eisteddfod.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ruth Herbert
1871 births
1946 deaths
19th-century English people
19th-century English women
20th-century English writers
20th-century English women writers
20th-century Welsh writers
20th-century Welsh women writers
Writers from Liverpool
English people of Manx descent
English temperance activists
English folk-song collectors
Welsh folk-song collectors
English activists
English women activists
Welsh activists
Welsh women activists
People from Caerwys
Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge
Women folklorists
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Steamboat ladies